2020 Partnership Meeting Summary - Scaling Impact in Disruptive Times Online November 18-19, 2020 - World Cocoa Foundation
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2020 Partnership Meeting Summary Scaling Impact in Disruptive Times Online · November 18-19, 2020
Introduction
Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to present the 2020 Partnership Meeting summary. It recalls the World Cocoa Foundation’s first ever online
conference that was made possible by our sponsors and the expertise of 112 speakers from around the globe. The meeting
gathered 405 private sector sustainability leaders, farmers, government officials, civil society representatives, and researchers
from 30 countries to explore this year’s theme, “Scaling Impact in Disruptive Times”.
The 2020 Partnership Meeting was the only global conference dedicated to cocoa sustainability in 2020. During the event, we
explored four streams: enabling environment, prosperous farmers, empowered communities, and healthy planet. At WCF, we
believe these streams advance our vision of a thriving and sustainable cocoa sector where farmers prosper, communities are
empowered, and the planet is healthy.
Table of Contents We were fortunate to host outstanding experts in plenary and breakout sessions during our shift to an online platform. I
am particularly grateful to our high-level speakers from across the globe. Through their presence and engagement, they
demonstrated that we all are on a shared journey to enhance the sustainability of the cocoa sector, and improve the livelihoods
of cocoa farmers and their communities.
Introduction 3 We look forward to continuing our work together toward a sustainable cocoa sector and invite you to join us for the next
Partnership Meeting on November 17-18, 2021.
Preview
Key Findings of the 2020 Cocoa Barometer 4
Sincerely,
Day 1
Scaling Impact in Disruptive Times 6
Ending Poverty in Disruptive Times 7 Richard Scobey
President
Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Action 8
Fighting Child Labor in Cocoa: Building Partnerships & Scaling Up Action 9
Looking Back & Looking Forward: Building on CocoaAction Lessons Learned 10
Scaling Lasting Impact in Community Driven Development 10
Changing Behavior for Climate Smart Cocoa? 11
Prosperous Farmers and a Healthy Planet through Agroforestry 12
Landscape Approaches: From Concept to Scale 13
Day 2
Building Back Better for Sustainability 14
European Union Dialogue on Sustainable Cocoa 15
What’s Next for the Dialogue on Living Income? 17
Leadership Voices 18
Financial Inclusion and Living Income 20
Farmer Development Plans: Adoption & Living Income 21
Let’s Talk About Farm Sizes 22
Protecting All Children at Risk: How to Scale Up Coverage and Impact? 23
Payment for Environmental Services: How Can it Work in Cocoa? 24
Traceability: Fragmented Approaches, National Systems, and Technology 25
Scaling Impact Investment to Empower Communities 26
Protecting the Amazon with Cocoa 27
WCF’s First-Ever Online Event 28 3
Thank You to Our Sponsors 29
Preview:
Key Findings of the 2020 Cocoa Barometer
MODERATOR As a prelude to the two-day online Partnership Meeting, Buruku hosted a session to introduce the 2020 Environmental Protection
Buddy Buruku Cocoa Barometer, a bi-annual study on cocoa sustainability. Fountain and Hütz-Adams elaborated on The environmental threat – including deforestation, the loss of biodiversity, damage to habitats, the loss
Master of Ceremonies its key findings in four areas – Living Income, Human Rights, Environmental Protection and Enabling of carbon storage, etc. – had increasingly become part of the discussion around cocoa production. On
Environment. traceability, there was disappointment that national monitoring systems had still not been rolled out,
SPEAKERS although major steps had been taken at the individual company level. It was vital to address the fact that
Antonie Fountain Living Income so much forest had been cut down, and to develop agroforestry systems. Protecting the environment could
VOICE Network The speakers said the report showed a big step forward in developing a clearer definition of how to not come at the expense of human rights – there were regular reports of communities being evicted. It
calculate living income and there was now a widely accepted methodology. There was a close connection was not a good approach to replace formerly heavily forested areas with simple agroforestry, and simple
Friedel Hütz-Adams between ensuring a living income and due diligence on human rights. However, the technical and political agroforestry should never replace complex agroforestry systems.
SÜDWIND Institute steps to achieve a living income were still unclear and this level was just the bare minimum for existence,
so the aim would have to be higher. Although research showed tailored fertilizing was necessary, improper use of fertilizer was widespread
because of inadequate soil quality testing and training, and a one-size-fits-all approach. Organic fertilizers
Global cocoa production had nearly doubled in the last 40 years, but West Africa’s share of the total were an option. It was a huge problem that some had advised farmers not to invest in fertilizers during the
production had grown from 50% to 70%. Farmers had no influence on price, which is determined by the price collapse.
world market, creating an unequal distribution of risk.
In answer to questions, the presenters said the biggest cause of deforestation was poverty and it was
Many countries were still talking about increasing productivity, but it was unclear whether this was essential to find holistic approaches, including supply management, protecting the environment and extra
possible. There had been many pilots but there was still no sign of success at scale. If only 10% of farmers income for farmers. Options included payment for environmental services to pay farmers to leave existing
were to double productivity, prices would collapse so this alone was not the solution. If farmers pursued trees in place, strengthening land and tree tenure security.
diversification, they ran into the same problems they face in the cocoa sector, so price was still crucial.
Enabling Environment
Only now that more data had emerged on the cost of production, household size, benchmarks on what Most proposed solutions have focused on the farm level, but the problem is broader – the need to create
living income should be and what households were earning was it becoming possible to calculate a Living an enabling environment. The last two years saw a major shift toward embracing mandatory measures on
Income Reference Price (LIRP). But key elements were still missing, including cost of production data. human rights and environmental protection. This needed to be done at an EU or global level, not national
Farmers needed to get a living income first and then prove they could raise productivity. (although complementary steps at the national level helped) and be based on UN guiding principles.
Companies that find a problem should not just try to solve it by sourcing elsewhere. They must solve it in
The Living Income Differential (LID) would not close the living income gap because it was based on old a way that benefits the people whose rights have been violated and not just for the benefit of the supply
prices before they collapsed, although cooperation between the major producers Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana chain. Holistic approaches were
to address the issue was welcomed. The farm gate price should be above $3,000/ton, far above the current essential – you could protect forests
level $1,600-$1,700. It was important to pursue holistic policies and diversification and ensure fair prices. only through a broad approach,
not by looking at the interests of a
Human Rights single farmer.
Addressing the issues of human rights and child labor depended on alleviating poverty, although other
interventions were also needed. Promises made over the past few decades had not been met and the report On the other hand, the current
by NORC (National Opinion Research Center at the top-down approach did not work,
University of Chicago) was a “sobering wake up call.” and solutions had to be developed
at the local level with time-bound
There was a lack of consistency in the way companies deliverables. They could be based
were implementing the CLMRS (Child Labor Monitoring on global minimum threshold
and Remediation System) and it was vital for countries, criteria but needed to be translated
whose duties include ensuring access to education and to the local needs and context. That
the rule of law, to observe the UN Guiding Principles. It could only be done by bringing
was the duty of states to protect, the duty of corporations farmers and civil society into the
to respect. discussions. Interventions must be tailored to promoting the role of women, farmer empowerment, and
strong and functioning cooperatives.
In the area of gender inequality, the speakers said
that there was a “shocking gap” on interventions to
engage women and that programs specifically aimed at
increasing women’s income levels had more of an effect
that those targeted at men.
4 5
Day 1: Plenary Sessions
SPEAKERS Scaling Impact in Disruptive Times Ending Poverty in Disruptive Times MODERATOR
Christine McGrath Buddy Buruku
Mondelēz International McGrath stressed the need to maintain a collective focus on sustainability and said Mondelēz’s mission Offering a grim view of economic prospects in the wake of the pandemic, Ohnsorge said it was the deepest Master of Ceremonies
was to lead the future of snacking by offering the right snack for the right moment, made the right global recession since the Second World War and the recovery would be protracted and subdued. Risks
Richard Scobey way – “We call this ‘snacking made right’,” she said. That meant managing the supply chain in ways that included delays in introducing a vaccine, a more prolonged pandemic, a loss of investor confidence, a wave SPEAKER
World Cocoa Foundation minimized the impact on the planet and respected the rights and wellbeing of all the people the business of corporate bankruptcies and debt distress. There was a high likelihood of lasting damage to investment, Franziska Ohnsorge
touches. human capital accumulation, and productivity. World Bank Group
Mondelēz addressed the complex issues that cocoa farmers The pandemic touched 90% of countries and reversed a decade of global economic gain. Ohnsorge forecast
face – climate change, gender and equality, poverty, and child a modest recovery in 2021. There was tremendous economic uncertainty and a rise in poverty, reversing
labor – through its Cocoa Life sustainability program, a $400 several years of improvement.
million, 10-year commitment. By the end of 2019, 175,000 of the
Mondelēz-associated farmers had been registered with Cocoa Life Asked by Buruku whether one could be more
and the number was on track to reach 200,000, or 63%, by 2022. optimistic with the promised arrival of vaccines,
The goal was 100% by 2025, McGrath said. Ohnsorge said things would improve but this would
not undo the damage of this year. She said it was
Cooperation with WCF partners was vital to achieve this. possible that the pandemic would come under control
The best way to make progress was to approach the range of faster, and this would trigger an improvement in
challenges holistically and to understand that the most powerful confidence, but for now momentum was slowing
means was to raise farmer incomes overall. She said Cocoa Life because a second Covid-19 wave was underway.
farmers earned 22% more than the national average and that to
close the gap for all a growing and diversified rural economy was Buruku said there was talk of restarting economies
needed. “We are stronger together,” she said. in a more sustainable way, and Ohnsorge said that
“building back better” was critical. “Crises tend to
Scobey welcomed participants to the Partnership Meeting and said that while cocoa farmers faced bring home to people the importance of reforms – this
unprecedented challenges from the coronavirus pandemic, everyone wanted to ensure a thriving, particular crisis brings home to us the fragility of some
sustainable, and just cocoa system. He said the benefit of holding a virtual event was that it would reach a of the education systems, some of the supply chains.”
much broader audience – more than 400 participants had signed up from 30 countries on six continents She said some companies would build more resilience
and 40 member companies. into the system. Governments were restricted in what
they could do but did have levers and could help by
He flagged five developments of the past year: removing red tape.
1. Disruption created by the pandemic had caused a 15% decline in cocoa grinding and a fall in global
cocoa purchases. The priority was to support farmers. Scobey noted the announcement in May by She noted that compared with earlier recent crises
cocoa and chocolate companies of a donation of U.S. $835,000 to support government emergency for commodities (in 2011, 2014 and 2016, when
plans in West Africa, Asia, and Latin America. all commodities were hit), in this pandemic year,
2. There was a growing global focus on achieving a living income and making cocoa farming truly although there had been a sharp oil price reduction,
sustainable. This included progress on introducing the LID premium paid to farmers. “LID and other commodities were not hit as much and now
company sustainable programs live together,” he said, adding these programs had helped 700,000 were back to pre-pandemic prices.
farmers and their families.
3. On climate change and deforestation, Scobey said U.N. reports indicated the rate of forests lost Ohnsorge said the saddest impact of the pandemic
in 2018-2019 was half the previous rate and that “several policies and actions have contributed, was that there would be a rise of 88 to 115 million people in poverty, particularly among groups that had
including the Cocoa & Forests Initiative.” just emerged from poverty. What could be done would depend on conditions in different countries. In
4. He said there had been progress on fighting child labor in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, although the some countries the support groups worked but in others many people were hard to reach. She said that
NORC report showed that too many children working on farms were still under-age or doing governments in emerging economies had stepped up like they had never done before, and it was not just
dangerous work. Government and company programs were making a difference, Scobey said and a advanced economies that had made added stimulus funds available to support financial activity.
more than 60% growth in total cocoa production had not brought a similar rise in child labor. He
noted a one third reduction in child labor in places where chocolate companies were present.
5. There was a growing sense of corporate responsibility in the supply chain, Scobey said. WCF believed
effective implementation of rights in the supply chain required three complementary actions –
government regulation, strong public and private partnerships and increased aid and trade flows on a
national scale.
6 7
Day 1: Plenary Sessions
MODERATOR Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Action Fighting Child Labor in Cocoa: Building Partnerships & Scaling Up Action MODERATOR
Alexander Ferguson Nick Weatherill
World Cocoa Foundation Goldsmith issued an urgent call for change in the cocoa sector to work toward a more sustainable future, as Weatherill noted that many children were in child labor in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the vast majority International Cocoa
the consumption of cocoa and the worth of the world market grows. on family farms. He said the latest research was encouraging: between 88-96% of child laborers were Initiative
SPEAKERS attending school and 94% were living with parents or relatives. The others were mostly children outside
Zac Goldsmith Deforestation and land use changes had become the second largest contributor to global climate change and of their communities attending secondary schools or older children who had established a household of SPEAKERS
Government of the about 80% of the destruction was attributed to agriculture. The deforestation rate in West Africa in the last their own. The average work time per child laborer was just over eight hours per week, which was not Camille Abou
United Kingdom two decades had been alarming. There was a price incompatible with school attendance. These were hours that could be worked outside school and for most Camaye Cooperative
to pay for prosperity but the world’s poorest were age groups were within permissible limits.
suffering the most. Francesco d’Ovidio
Weatherill said one issue was the prevalence of hazardous work. Looking at the next two years, and the International Labour
Despite recent investments, the trajectory for Organization
need to meet the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, it was important to focus on areas where it was
the environment was in the wrong direction,
possible to have an impact. Recent research showed that in communities with a mix of interventions
Goldsmith said. There was no pathway to net zero Kate Clancy
– CLMRS, or preventive efforts through community development – and where such interventions had
emissions that could reverse the biodiversity loss Cargill
or alleviate poverty that did not include large-scale been in place for three years, there had been a 33% reduction in child labor. This was encouraging, but
restoration and protection of nature. “We need to measures were not being implemented at sufficient scale. CLMRS systems that had a proven impact were
now reaching 20% of farms. Jeff King
help nature recover,” and help communities better
The Hershey Company
adapt to the effects of a changing climate, he said.
He said ICI had a new strategy to analyze what was blocking scaling and what would drive it. The models
Nature-based solutions now attracted 3% of global that showed progress had cost a lot and were complicated, so it was necessary to innovate to make them
climate finance. There was an urgent need to more scalable. He said work was underway looking at risk-based monitoring to lighten the burden,
change the rules dramatically by doubling international climate finance with a significant amount going to strengthen alignment and share responsibility. He said: “We need greater motivation in the sector from
investment in nature, he said. More money alone would not solve the issue and it was essential to address compulsory regulations, particularly on human rights due diligence but also we need motivation for the
the core drivers of ecological degradation by changing the incentives that come with forest protection. positive, reputational dividend to be had from doing the right thing.”
Goldsmith said the UK was trying to build an alliance of countries committed to cleaning up the global Greater accountability was needed, as well as benchmarks and standards to ensure that what was done
supply chains and had a new law that required companies to remove illegal deforestation from their supply had an impact. Greater transparency would bring a reputational dividend that could motivate the sector
chains. The initiative would take its cues from the Cocoa & Forests Initiative that WCF had helped establish to do more and do better. Core commitments endorsed by the WCF board were now being integrated into
and supported by the UK government through the Partnerships for Forests. Although there had been some company sustainability work on the ground. Key among them was to scale up CLMRS to 100% by 2025.
good results of this initiative it may have to be scaled up, he said. Unless the markets, the single most Weatherill praised what he called a growing emphasis on tackling root causes, mentioning Côte d’Ivoire’s
powerful force, saw the value in nature and a cost to its destruction there could be an ecological, economic, support for the Jacobs Foundation-backed Child Learning and Education Facility for 5 million children.
and humanitarian disaster. Facing this challenge, which used to be a choice, was now a duty and cocoa had Similar commitment was needed from Ghana, especially in secondary education, he said. He hoped
an important role to play, Goldsmith told the participants. 2021 would bring new PPPs to accelerate progress on a multi-stakeholder basis, with a new framework of
accountability built in.
D’Ovidio welcomed the industry’s commitment to fight child labor, which was not just a child protection
matter but primarily a labor matter. Coordination by all parties was essential and a parallel system to the
government was needed to drive this forward.
Clancy welcomed signs of progress and said Cargill was looking at working with different actors in its
supply chains. Equally important were CLMRS, promoting farmer coaches and women and raising
awareness on how hazardous child labor is. She said Cargill worked with ICI to build knowledge in-house
and integrate it in the supply chain.
Abou said it was important to look at the tasks that child laborers were doing and especially important
to keep them from dangerous jobs. It was also critical to consider the role of women, who could heavily
influence what happens to children.
8 9
Day 1: Breakout Sessions
MODERATOR Looking Back & Looking Forward: Building on CocoaAction Lessons Learned Asked to comment on the changes in the way companies measured community impact, Agyarko-
Nira Johri Kwarteng said that initially companies had been more focused on the individual farmer and
Rich Products Corporation Johri provided an overview of the CocoaAction initiative and Tholen analyzed its implementation and the impact on farmers’ productivity. However, over the last few years companies had focused
impacts and drew lessons from its activities. more on communities and community driven development and had looked more closely on the
SPEAKERS impact seen at the community level, particularly in terms of education, children’s protection, and
Nicko Debenham Tholen said CocoaAction had helped to bring the industry together and create a non-competitive women’s empowerment. How to measure this impact had led companies to think more deeply
Barry Callebaut workspace to discuss key issues, acted as a forum for sharing learning and promoted an understanding about impact measurement.
among companies of the need for monitoring and evaluation.
Carolin Fessenberg
Blommer He acknowledged that CocoaAction’s strategy had been designed with minimum input from external Changing Behavior for Climate Smart Cocoa? MODERATOR
stakeholders, that it did not have a holistic approach and did not respond to some realities in cocoa– Stephanie Daniels
Kim Frankovich producing countries. But he said CocoaAction had paved the way for subsequent initiatives by building Daniels introduced the session, asking speakers to discuss Sustainable Food Lab
Mars Wrigley trust and establishing connections. strategies, incentives, and practices being pursued to help
cocoa farmers adapt to the challenges of climate change, SPEAKERS
Rick Scobey including shifting rainfall, extreme weather events, and Winston Asante
World Cocoa Foundation Scaling Lasting Impact in Community-Driven Development disease and pest outbreaks. Solidaridad West Africa
Taco Terheijden Agyarko-Kwarteng said the Hershey Company’s cocoa sustainability strategy, Cocoa for Good, was built Asante said a lot of theoretical work had been done Ernest Dwamena
Cargill on four pillars addressing nutrition, youth development, poverty, and environment. She detailed the on the changes farmers needed to make to adapt, but Touton
data-based process, starting with the cocoa farmer, used to assess the needs of the individual and the few were put into practice because they were not
Jerwin Tholen community and create action plans to address their priorities, often through Community Development accessible to farmers. In Ghana, he said there were still Abi Monnet Innocent
KPMG Committees. Hershey worked closely with local and international NGOs, as well as traders and exporters problems in establishing land ownership, inhibiting the Ecookim
within the supply chain, she said. The priorities addressed in the community action plans were wide implementation of new practices. He said Solidaridad had
Cedric van Cutsem and varied. It was essential to balance the needs with the reality of the resources available and with the created a financial mechanism that farmers could tap into David Zilberman
Mondelēz International priorities in the sustainability plans of companies working in communities. to help them adopt climate smart cocoa (CSC) practices. University of California,
Berkeley
Olivier Zwolsmen Agyarko-Kwarteng said it was important to find ways to leverage existing business relations with Zilberman said climate change was a “dynamic phenomenon” that provided an opportunity for innovation,
Ferrero farmers to sustain development engagement with communities. One approach could be through farmer and it was important to understand the farming community better and how the sector may change in the
cooperatives, another though leveraging partnerships, including with local government. Hershey had next 15 years. It had to be seen in the context of other issues, including the need for companies to provide
developed a number of innovative partnerships with schools, NGOs, PTAs and USAID as well as business farmers with credit, the lack of collaboration in the supply chain between public and private organizations
MODERATOR groups. and the lack of cooperation between farmers.
Youssouf N’djoré
World Cocoa Foundation Algamar detailed Save The Children’s approach to community development called Integrated Community Dwamena said it was important to take a “landscape” approach to the looming climate changes to research
Centered Design, which held that solutions to the hardest issues, including child labor, came from the and categorize farmers, to establish who would be the most able and willing to adapt to the changes, and
SPEAKERS power of communities. It focused on organizations, relationships and creating shared value among then find the best way to deliver the services they needed.
Felix Addo-Yobo community members.
Ghana National Development In a discussion, speakers made clear investors would have to be selective about who they backed as climate
Planning Commission Dao Gabala looked at community driven development (CDD) from a producer’s perspective. For change brought new conditions to cocoa areas, and there would be a drive toward more diversification of
Solidaridad, she said, CDD aimed for more community engagement in the work that they do for all crops. Dwamena said climate change was already causing some farmers to move to new regions to try to set
Tawiah Agyarko-Kwarteng stakeholders – the producer in his local community, the cocoa industry and the state. Community up new farms. Touton had interventions in such areas to try to help those farmers who remain, introducing
The Hershey Company engagement was vital to ensure community ownership that facilitated change and a sustainable impact. new techniques. Asante said Solidaridad had looked at regions that would soon be unable to grow cocoa,
Citizens accepted and owned the development interventions when they saw immediate benefits in their where farmers had begun transitioning to short cropping systems and cashew growing that better suited
Rizal Algamar lives, she noted. the new climate.
Save the Children
Taylor spoke of the SEED-SCALE approach from UNICEF, which depended on simplifying a complicated The speakers said there had been progress on transitioning starting 5-10 years ago, when the industry
Mariam Dao Gabala system. The idea was that every community had seeds, which were seeds of human energy. The challenge would not even discuss the idea. Touton had introduced vegetables in addition to cocoa in places in
Solidaridad was to have those seeds grow in the local context using existing governance and business systems. Two western Ghana and connected farmers to a new market. Migrant farmers saw this as a way to make money
things happened in scaling up; benefits reached more people and quality of life was improved. As the and became invested in diversification. Speakers said it was vital to go beyond the theoretical and focus
Daniel Taylor quality of life improved, more people were drawn into the process, Taylor said. on actual behavior, to understand the community and its issues before trying to implement change, and to
Future Generations University create the capacity and framework to enable farmers to implement CSC practices.
10 11
Day 1: Breakout Sessions
MODERATOR Prosperous Farmers and a Healthy Planet through Agroforestry Landscape Approaches: From Concept to Scale MODERATOR
Ethan Budiansky Frank Hicks
World Cocoa Foundation Budiansky discussed the activities of the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) since it was established in 2017 Asare said it was not possible to tackle issues of deforestation, child labor, and livelihood creation without Consultant
by Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and leading cocoa and chocolate companies, who made commitments to adopting a landscape approach and supply chain interventions were ineffective in dealing with most
SPEAKERS restore and protect forests, improve farmers’ lives, grow more cocoa on less land and ensure greater social issues at the farmer level. It was necessary to establish community-based landscape governance where SPEAKERS
Yohann Fare inclusion. Since 2018 companies had distributed over 4 million multipurpose trees in the two countries to landowners, land users and natural resource users were at the center of driving change in how forest Rebecca Asare
Kinomé promote cocoa agroforestry. The session considered how agroforestry could deliver economic, agricultural, resources were used and how climate-smart cocoa agroforestry is scaled out and adopted. Nature Conservation
environmental, and climatic benefits. Research Centre
Andreanne Grimard There was a growing interest in landscape
Ecotierra Niether presented the results of a study which found that agroforestry systems have the potential to approaches, which focus on balancing Jephthah Mensah
compete with and even outperform monocultures. competing land use demands to benefit Mondelēz International
Johanna Jacobi both people and the environment. It meant
University of Bern Jacobi said due to the wide variety of environmental, climatic and soil conditions there was no general creating solutions that consider food Raul Ramírez Nelson
definition of cocoa agroforestry beyond “inclusion of trees in cocoa plots.” Different things would work and livelihoods, finance, rights, agency Mirova Natural Capital
Wiebke Niether better in different places. Even a simple agroforestry system could have a positive impact. Local knowledge partnerships, restoration and progress
University of Giessen must be combined with sophisticated scientific research to design a functioning dynamic agroforestry toward climate and development goals. Pamela Schreier
system with environmental and economic benefits to families. ECOM
Valentina Robiglio For this approach to succeed it was
ICRAF Robiglio said what was key was the interplay between the necessary for communities and Coen van Genderen
farmers’ objectives, capacities and skills and the social and government to work out cost-sharing and FMO
Sebastiaan van der Hoek ecological context in which they operated, such as the market, planning as well as an effective monitoring
Cargill institutions, regulations, access to knowledge, technology, and system. WCF established a Monitoring Victoria Wiafe-Duah
biophysical factors. She showed the diversity of challenges with and Evaluation system to monitor cocoa Partnerships for Forests
four case studies of farmers in different circumstances. There landscapes from the perspective of
was no one-size-fits-all, especially when considering whether an sustainable cocoa production and maintaining the ecosystem.
approach could be scaled up.
Wiafe-Duah highlighted the core mandate of the UK government-funded Partnership for Forests (P4F) to
Fare presented work developed by Kinomé with the World Bank and discussed factors that contributed support and scale pilots and create opportunities and investment for catalyzing investment for sustainable
to scaling up successful agroforestry systems and likely bottlenecks. He said that best practices could be land use and forestry. She outlined the benefits of the landscapes approach and discussed the partnerships
learned from the ground level and scaling up must address the issue of living income. and pilot work P4F had been engaged in for the last three years.
Cargill’s van der Hoek, while stressing that different Schreier told the meeting it was imperative to develop lengthy programs within a favorable political context
approaches were necessary to cope with different so they could work as national initiatives, but it was also important for regional or local governments to
conditions, said there was mounting evidence that prioritize landscape restoration because of their proximity and interest in local change. It was also vital
agroforestry was a viable best practice that had the for other bodies, including academic institutions, and end users to scale the landscape beyond the supply
potential to secure the longevity of the cocoa sector. “The chain. These entities provided valuable expertise and financing and could help promote the concept of
question is actually not if we need to invest in agroforestry landscaping to a wider audience, including other industries.
but more how?” To do this it was essential to have reliable
data, good mapping, and close cooperation with partners. Mensah said eight companies, including Mondelēz, were working together in Ghana and said the regulator
of the landscape management and investment scheme had been charged with developing a national
Grimard said Ecotierra had begun agroforestry projects framework for landscape management investments. One aspect of this was promoting the planting of 1.4
10 years ago and stressed the importance of long-term million shade trees.
commitment in this field aimed at transforming degraded
land into productive agroforestry. The goal was to Participants agreed there was a solid foundation for developing landscape governance mechanisms to
establish a $50 million fund by the end of 2020 (now champion sustainability. They agreed that it was vital to create effective monitoring systems. The meeting
$38 million) for investment in 4-5 agroforestry projects was told the government of Ghana was making a big effort to increase cocoa production by about four times
in Latin America. To create a return on investment, she said, Ecotierra would package several activities its current level in the next four years and developing a framework for concurrent forest conservation.
and revenue streams within the fund. She explained how each of the components and activities would
reinforce the others.
12 13
Day 2: Plenary Sessions
MODERATOR Building Back Better for Sustainability European Union Dialogue on Sustainable Cocoa MODERATOR
Richard Scobey Buddy Buruku
World Cocoa Foundation Verghese, CEO of Olam International, said the challenge was how to pivot and transform the cocoa value chain Parkin opened the session on the importance of the partnership between cocoa producers and Europe by Master of Ceremonies
toward a sustainable future. He outlined the grave threat to the world created by the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledging that although cocoa was a wonderful crop and ingredient there were significant challenges
SPEAKERS which he said had “unknown probabilities and unbounded outcomes.” He noted first the huge impact it had on that still must be solved, including poverty, child labor and deforestation. He said efforts by the producing SPEAKERS
Carlos Manuel the most vulnerable, the poorest people, saying all the gains made in the last five years to reduce poverty across country governments and industry were showing real measurable progress. The incidence rate of Justin Adams
Rodriguez the globe had been lost. Secondly, he said what had started as a health pandemic had become a hunger pandemic hazardous work was declining and CLMRS was having an impact. Deforestation was slowing as a result of Tropical Forest Alliance
Global Environment and noted the crucial role the World Food Program (WFP) had to play. Thirdly, he pointed to the disastrous governments and industry working together.
Facility effect on the economy generally, saying the IMF had forecast minus 5% growth this year and it would be end- Aldo Cristiano
2022 or 2023 before we would see pre-COVID growth levels. The three threats to global sustainability – the Voluntary interventions from industry could drive change, Parkin said. But all of the industry needed to CAOBISCO
Sunny Verghese climate emergency, the collapse of nature and biodiversity and sharply rising social inequities – were interlinked work on this – only half was now doing so – and a partnership was needed between demand countries with
Olam International and could not be addressed separately, he said. supply countries to accelerate progress to drive change for the good of communities and farmers. Abou Dosso
Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
Turning to the cocoa value chain, he said the three key challenges were establishing “granular” traceability in Urpilainen said there was a growing consensus that cocoa needed to be more sustainable and cited a new
the very fragmented supply chain, countering deforestation and creating a living income for farmers, almost all initiative from the European commission linking higher prices to sustainability and living income. In Heidi Hautala
of whom live below the poverty line. “We cannot enjoy the confectionery products that we all love if the farmers September, the EU launched a policy dialogue with Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and the EU Commission’s European Parliament
who are producing it get a raw deal and do not get a fair share of the value,” he said. Noting that 260 million work on human rights due diligence and the green deal was expanding. The pandemic had disrupted some
children across the world work, he said it was vital to eliminate child labor in cocoa, where it was still a “serious of the work but “spurred us on to be more ambitious.” Barry Parkin
issue.” World Cocoa Foundation
Hautala said she was delighted to hear the commitment by Urpilainen to the EU green deal, that there was
How would changes be made? “It is easy for us to come together and have bold goals … but there is a massive a sector-wide commitment to EU policy making and a systemic transition starting toward sustainability Harold Poelma
action gap,” he said. “We are significantly behind the trajectories in achieving the 17 UN SDGs,” he said, adding: in the EU. The EU was in a leading position and could introduce global change if it worked hard with all European Cocoa Association
“196 countries came together and signed the Paris Accord but there is no chance in hell that we will achieve it.” partners. COVID-19 had reduced decades of development progress, creating more poverty and hunger in
To drive action, he listed six points: countries where this was in large part overcome. Jutta Urpilainen
1. We have to be the change we want to see in others. European Commission
2. All actors in the supply chain must have bold ambitions and be transparent. There would be mandatory legislation on EU due diligence in 2021 and the European Parliament was
3. Two or three actors alone will not make the difference, the whole sector must come together. preparing a proposal. The aim was to build on what already exists, to extend EU due diligence to supply
4. Research institutions need breakthroughs so that we can achieve more with less. chains, make the approach risk-based and flexible enough to be built in. It was not the task of the
5. Civil society, NGOs and companies have to form “unusual and unnatural” collaborations for action. legislation to predefine where problems are, but rather to build a preventive mechanism by embedding due
6. Governments and policy makers have to engage. There must be public disclosure of national and social diligence processes into companies’ everyday processes, Hautala said.
capital, a carbon tax and effective advocacy for sustainable change.
She spelled out in detail her approach to such legislation. Proportionality was key – requirements need
Rodriguez, a former Costa Rican environment minister, said it was vital to recognize that the world faced more to be proportional to the
than the threat of the pandemic but had also reached an environmental crisis that meant a dramatic turning size of a company. Liability
point for humanity similar in impact to the industrial revolution. “We need to recognize that humans have a was needed – a law without
broken relationship with nature,” he said. This was “a direct product of an economic system that takes, makes teeth was not a useful law
and wastes, that aims at unlimited growth without recognizing planetary boundaries.” The pandemic, on top of and a proper deterrent effect
other global problems, had shown “just how fragile we humans are.” There would be social unrest not just among was needed to create a level
the very poor but led by the middle class in countries like Singapore, Costa Rica, France, the United States and playing field. Liability would
elsewhere “because the economic model has not provided them with a satisfactory quality of life.” likely apply to a narrow
range of entities, she said.
The biodiversity crisis, he said, would impact everyone: “The human footprint is affecting the life support system A company could not be
of the planet.” He said we had to prepare for a time when pandemics, huge forest fires and other catastrophes expected to be a state, but
were normal. But was “very optimistic we can do the leap forward if we can understand the need to change.” it needed to do what was reasonably expected. If it could show it had taken due care, it should not be
considered liable.
To address the environmental catastrophe, it was essential to realize there was a “failed institutional framework
in the public sector.” Governments had to dismantle structures that had created competing administrative silos –
like ministries of agriculture and of the environment – and create an integrated, cooperative approach. “We will
never achieve any sustainability standard if we keep on thinking with the same institutional framework that has
created the problems that today we want to solve,” Rodriguez said.
14 15
Day 2: Plenary Sessions
MODERATOR European Union Dialogue on Sustainable Cocoa (cont’d) What’s Next for the Dialogue on Living Income? MODERATOR
Buddy Buruku Jordy van Honk
Master of Ceremonies The victims’ perspective must not be forgotten – there would be human rights harm and a remedy was Van Honk introduced the panel, saying that understanding of what constitutes a living income had IDH, The Sustainable Trade
needed. The range of practical and legal barriers was enormous, she said. She added that companies now come a long way in the last year and cited a number of studies. Pieters said Mondelēz understood Initiative
SPEAKERS had to deal with a patchwork of requirements and there should be a unified framework at the European that it had a critical role to play in the cocoa value chain and noted several initiatives it was taking
Justin Adams level so that “we are not troubled by mushrooming initiatives” that aim at good but create confusion. to ensure a living income in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The company’s No Silver Bullets study, she said, SPEAKERS
Tropical Forest Alliance had found that the income gap is large and only a small number of households were able to close it. Michael Ekow Amoah
Ambassador Dosso said Côte d’Ivoire had no problem with due diligence legislation and said child labor To achieve 75% having a living income would take US $10 billion a year, she said. Ghana Cocoa Board
Aldo Cristiano and deforestation were national problems. His country wanted sustainable cocoa and was favorable to
CAOBISCO future legislation from the European Union. But due diligence was needed to show responsibility. “There Waarts, who has been researching cocoa for 10 years, said she was surprised by the size of the gap Stephanie Daniels
are still plantations in classified forests and producers that use child labor,” he said. Ensuring due diligence and saw three causes for it: small farm sizes, low yields which farming households do not have the Sustainable Food Lab
Abou Dosso in the short term would be difficult to manage. It needed to be a progressive process. It was necessary to money to improve and the lack of alternative income opportunities. There was a need to build on
Republic of Côte d’Ivoire establish time frames and financial and technological requirements. It was necessary to move people out of one another’s strengths to drive collective action to improve living incomes, and it could not be Cathy Pieters
classified forests and rehabilitate them, help farmers grow more cocoa on less land, build schools, etc. These done alone. Multi-stakeholder programs were needed, including creating an enabling environment, Mondelēz International
Heidi Hautala were difficult problems, and the solutions were essentially economic. diversifying incomes, market linkages and greater productivity. Data must be shared.
European Parliament Yuca Waarts
Poelma said the ECA, which groups Europe’s major companies involved in the cocoa bean trade and From the point of view of the Wageningen University
Barry Parkin processing, welcomed the opportunity to be a member of the dialogue. ECA’s vision was for a thriving Ghanaian government, Ekow Amoha
World Cocoa Foundation sustainable cocoa sector based on three components: decent work and no child labor, forest protection ran through the challenges for cocoa
through properly enforced national legislation, and better productivity on less land with a living income. He in his country, where inheritance
Harold Poelma said the EU had a role to play by establishing an efficient and effective regulatory framework and spelled out issues had driven farm sizes smaller
European Cocoa Association his views on what was needed to put changes into effect. and smaller, migrant farmers and
sharecroppers lacked land tenure
Jutta Urpilainen Cristiano of CAOBISCO, which represents the European confectionary industry, discussed the issue of and did not invest in their land,
European Commission applying due diligence. Once core risk factors had been identified and companies had implemented actions, there was limited access to credit
he said the right incentives were needed to generate a systemic solution. Trade and development policies and limited data and farmers lacked
were the greatest opportunities for doing this. A due diligence system needed to be coupled with an EU business skills. He said Ghana was focused on improving productivity to 1,000 kgs/ha through hand
strategy to create an enabling environment for sustainable farming in producing countries. pollination, irrigation, rehabilitation of diseased and moribund farms, mass spraying, and access
to fertilizer. It was trying to teach farmers to see farming as a business, generate farm level data to
Adams applauded the leadership of Europe on these issues and described TFA’s approach to countering facilitate access to credit and create a farmer pension plan. Ghana was encouraging a transition to
deforestation and working with the cocoa industry. He called for a deeper recognition of the work of in- coffee in areas where cocoa was not working, diversification in areas where cocoa can continue and
country partnerships, developing mechanisms around sustainability, international collaboration to create the proliferation of shade trees.
consistent regulations, integrating provisions on forest protection into financing arrangements and rigorous
traceability and transparency. Daniels said No Silver Bullets had helped bring more understanding of the nuanced strategies
farming households needed to adopt to reach a living income and the scale of the challenge.
Dosso said Côte d’Ivoire recognized the importance of political issues linked to sustainability but said Transparency and data sharing were key to learning about the effectiveness of programs. She noted
there must be a single political framework. His country strongly backed establishing voluntary partnership that a similar problem of struggling to reach a living income faced small farmers with other crops,
agreements. Cristiano said cocoa companies had been able to take responsibility. This had started with the including coffee, tobacco and vanilla, and lessons could be learned there. She said the landscape
adoption of certain standards and certification but had grown into something wider and more far reaching approach needed good national level bodies to play a facilitating role.
and the WCF had been the home of many such initiatives such as CocoaAction, CFI, and work with ICI. But
he agreed that more had to be done. He noted that Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana said company programs only Pieters said progress would only come through understanding what is happening on a country
reached 10% of farmers. Further measures would need a “smart mix of voluntary and regulatory measures.” level. In national development plans stakeholders could collaborate to stimulate rural economies
and build a strategy and secure commitments from all the actors. Waarts said: “We have so much
Poelma praised the EU support and convening power for dialogue among the stakeholders and said this knowledge out there, we have the tools to design the most cost-effective plan.” Daniels, asked
needed to be coupled with EU financial support and technical capacity building in producing countries. He whether there was enough information and understanding to take another step forward, said: “It’s
advocated progress on farm mapping and traceability and adapting existing national legislation on forest helpful to understand the challenge, but let’s not let it paralyze us. No silver bullet, but we have a lot
protection to international standards. He emphasized education as a key to escaping poverty. On Living of ammunition.”
Income, he said efforts to increase income must be coupled with a strong regulatory framework to avoid
uncontrolled growth of cocoa farming. Summarizing, van Honk said: “To wrap up, there have never been more commitments on living
income. There has never been more public funding available for living income.”
16 17
Day 2: Leadership Voices
SPEAKERS Ecuador Indonesia
Joseph Boahen Aidoo
Ghana Cocoa Board Lazo said that Ecuador grew the best cocoa in the world, not only Machmud stressed that Indonesia’s top priority in
because of its distinct taste but also because of its deforestation-free developing its cocoa industry was the prosperity of
Xavier Lazo sustainable production. The role of women in the production was its small farmers, who own 97% of the 1.7 million
Government of Ecuador fully recognized and child labor had been eliminated from Ecuador’s hectares under cocoa cultivation. She said there
farms, he said. was a drive to make cocoa farming as attractive as
Musdhalifah Machmud possible to build up the sector, and the national
Republic of Indonesia In 2019, a Plan to Improve the Competitiveness of Cocoa and and local authorities strongly supported access to
its by-products was issued as a presidential decree, guaranteeing microfinance through no-collateral loans.
Sanda Ojiambo the employment of more than 150,000 cocoa producers and the
United Nations Global productive development of their land. The main objective was to She said Indonesian smallholders enjoyed higher
Compact double cocoa revenues from US $700 million to US $1.4 billion in 10 farm gate prices than in any other producing
years. Ecuador was committed to growing and improving its cocoa country. There was a strong emphasis on training and on empowering communities of producers and
based on quality, food safety, traceability “and above all by conveying cooperatives, to put the farmers in a better bargaining position, and initiatives to encourage more
the stories of our thousands of producers,” Lazo said. participation by women.
Ghana UN Global Compact
In a message to the conference, Aidoo emphasized the critical importance of the smallholder farmers, Ojiambo explained the work of the UN Global Compact,
calling them “the least advantaged and most vulnerable on the supply chain.” He cited the US $400 Living which was founded 20 years ago to align business operations
Income Differential (LID) Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and cocoa companies for 2020/2021, noting that it and strategies with universal principles in the areas of human
was understood that child labor and deforestation, the targets rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption and motivate
of sustainable cocoa initiatives, were really symptoms of low companies to integrate the SDGs into their core business
remuneration for farmers. He said the LID had a universal impact strategies and operations. More than 12,000 companies
while sustainability programs were selective in their impact, only worldwide are participating. She noted that the COVID-19
10% of the cocoa farming population. pandemic had exposed the fragility of the world, pushing
over 70 million people back into poverty. In response, she
Aidoo criticized some cocoa companies who he said had not said, “business as usual is not an option – we need to place
“walked the talk”. “Our intelligence indicates there is even a sustainability the core of business.”
deliberate ploy and strategy by some brands to delay and collapse
the LID,” he said. He added that any brand that was seen not to Ojiambo discussed some Global Compact initiatives to improve
be serious in accepting the LID by the middle of December 2020 living wages and to rein in emissions to combat climate change.
“must consider all its cocoa beans from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire “We are working to set a new course toward a socially just, low
being branded as “conventional”. Aidoo added: “We are prepared carbon and resilient future. In short, we are uniting business
to name and shame these brands to the consuming public.” for a better world,” she told the participants.
Responding to moves by the EU and the United States aimed
at combating child labor and deforestation linked to cocoa production, he listed a number of financial,
technical, and educational policies and interventions by Ghana to address these issues. He said more
dialogue was needed among all those involved in the cocoa supply chain.
18 19Day 2: Breakout Sessions
MODERATORS Financial Inclusion & Living Income Farmer Development Plans: Adoption & Living Income MODERATOR
Betty Annan David Thomson
World Cocoa Foundation Loukos spoke about the AgriTech Programme through GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile Thomson introduced the session by saying that good agricultural practices (GAP) for cocoa farmers were BEWorks
network operators worldwide, promoting viable digital solutions for small farmers. He said partnerships essentially a behavioral issue and required constant positive reinforcement, including through data-based
Buddy Buruku that the program engages in broadened and supported farmers’ pathway to financial inclusion. Farmer Development Plans (FDP). SPEAKERS
Master of Ceremonies Paul Macek
Cungu discussed ways in which financial services benefit farmers, many of whom struggled to get finance Macek detailed the procedure for establishing an FDP, which involved the selection of suitable farms, Corus International
SPEAKERS and insurance. Without such access, she said, they were excluded from the opportunity to increase assembling data on them, creating a customized multi-year plan and training, coaching, and mentoring to
Azeta Cungu productivity, withstand shocks, and manage risk. ensure the full potential of the farm over 10-15 years. Jean Marie Kouadio
FAO Agronova SARL
Kahonde cited a study by his organization, Better than Cash Alliance, which calculated that in Ghana’s
Oswell Kahonde cocoa sector farmers lost 19 percent of their potential revenue if they used cash in their transactions. The Sheila Senathirajah
Better than Cash Alliance study says that more than 90 percent of farmer transactions a year are conducted using cash. ISEAL Alliance
Panos Loukos The overall benefits of digital payments included improved efficiency, increased revenue, greater
GSMA transparency and security, and stronger business relationships. Kahonde said the four building blocks for
responsible and scalable digitization of payments were: know your smallholder farmers; build internal and
Atchori Gabriel N’dri external value propositions; enable farmers to spend funds and access services digitally; and make staff and
AMB Consulting farmers understand the value of digital payments.
Anne van der Veen Van der Veen discussed the activities that Beyond Beans was doing at the cooperative, community and
Beyond Beans individual farmer levels to promote financial inclusion and credit and savings arrangements. He gave an in-depth account of the five-year MOCCA project that began in Peru, Columbia, Guatemala,
El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Ecuador in 2018. The building blocks of the program were strong
cooperatives, a good agricultural and training curriculum, digital farm services including farm mapping,
SMS communications and videos, financial management training and raising gender awareness.
Senathirajah said the objective of an FDP was to build awareness of the concept of a living income, provide
clarity and guidance on measuring living income (which can become complex especially with the array of
indicators) and to have a better understanding of the strategies to close the income gap.
Increasing productivity was a challenge. An alternative approach was needed to help farmers become
empowered entrepreneurs who would manage professional and responsible farms generating a living
income. Different types of support included direct intervention and creating an enabling environment.
Practically speaking, Senathirajah said it was essential to better understand the context by triggering more
awareness and promoting informed debates; create a pre-competitive space for sharing, engagement and
dissemination of knowledge, data, framework etc.; build relationships through shared responsibility, with
long-term investments and commitments; and “speak the same language” – define and monitor indicators,
employ responsible business practices and pursue common objectives.
The panelists discussed the relative cost of the FDP approach compared with the farmer school approach,
the challenge of illiteracy in promoting FDPs, the hope that the fast spread of smart phones would help
disseminate data and increase skills and that greater awareness of the science of farming would also be
beneficial to the environment.
Macek said many companies were starting to experiment with FDPs and would roll them out. He added
that it would be important to gather data on and create a framework for analyzing their impact and cost
effectiveness.
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